LACUNA OBSCURA - A Horror Thriller

CHAPTER II

Sarza von Raitenau lived with her daughter Margareta von Raitenau in the lower north-west towers of the castle.

The Wilczek family, the owners of the castle, consisting of the now rather old and frail countess and her servants, resided on the opposite side of the towers in the castle quarters.

The castle's interiors, which were very intricately constructed, consisted of a long corridor connecting the staircases at various points along the labyrinthine corridor that eventually led to the castle courtyards and administrative rooms.

Below this, in the castle's cellar dungeon, were the infamous prison and torture chambers.

Above this was the Moosham Museum for artefacts and relics.

The old residential towers now lay largely abandoned, and the once mighty fortress wall that surrounded them was clearly in a state of decay.

The entrance and the rest of the castle complex adjoining the headquarters has been converted into a beautiful art gallery by the Wilczek family and is now run as a charity organisation.

This art gallery is open to tourists all year round and is visited by a large number of people every day.

Proffesor Sean stood with Miss Sarza and Miss Ruth in the small passageway leading to the corridor, outside the back door of the room that belonged to Margaret.

Proffesor Sean was silent for a few seconds, as if he did not know what to say to Sarza's question.

"I do not know, Miss Sarza, I am just as perplexed as the rest of you.

My students are arriving today, I have no idea how they will react to what has happened here."

"What did the castle doctor say about them last night?" Proffesor Sean quickly tossed the question to Miss Ruth.

"Well, she's always carried the anaemia with her.

Her rather sudden loss of hair and decreasing appetite struck Doctor Fitz as rather odd, especially as she was quite well until a few months ago.

He thought last night's sudden collapse was a mild heart attack"

Miss Sarza raised her fingers a little at this point, as if she wanted to add something she knew to the information.

But she quickly put it aside again, because a quick glance at Sean's face told him that there was a lot of hesitation and doubt involved.

"What is it, Miss Sarza?"

"Well, it's nothing, but this place can get claustrophobic at times, all this old architecture and the long, closed corridors, I have felt that myself.

Perhaps her breakdown was triggered by a feeling of suffocation in this old dining room."

The fact that she had invented her whole attitude in response to his question was clear to Proffesor Sean, but since his students were arriving soon, he did not want to dwell on it.

☯︎

When the students disembarked at the entrance to the accommodation, Proffesor Sean was waiting for them with a hard-burnt face.

It would be an understatement to say that his eyes just were not as bright as usual.

The wrinkles near his eyes and lips seemed to have increased exponentially.

You did not need to be much of a Sherlock Holmes to say out loud that there had not been much wrong with this person since he'd arrived in this place.

He was the first to break the silence with a smile

"Hello students! I hope you all had a mostly smooth journey here..."

"Er ... Professor, is everything all right with you?" Amelia interrupted him in the middle of his welcome speech.

Professor Sean was taken aback by this sudden enquiry, but quickly regained his composure.

He stared at the students hesitantly for a few seconds before speaking again.

"Well... apparently... no.

Since my first visit here, many events have occurred that can at least be described as problematic"

"What could have happened to make you ask me to bring a Glock 19?" Amelia asks slowly, rather confused.

However, she had forgotten that none of her companions except Farhan knew about it.

With the exception of Farhan, everyone had turned their heads towards her and looked rather shocked.

Amelia gasped, she knew what she had done.

Proffesor Sean Howerver helped to calm the situation.

"Look, you all need to listen to me very carefully.

Asking you to bring a weapon was a very intuitive decision on my part, which may now have turned out to be something that can be useful to us."

Proffesor Sean then talked a little about the history of Moosham, its castle and the family history associated with it.

He did not forget to tell the students about the Wilczek family, who own and mainly maintain the castle.

"Well, students, the daughter of Sarza von Raiteneau, Miss Margaret von Raiteneau, has been missing from the castle grounds since last night.

She has not even been found in the neighbouring villages or in the town.

Unfortunately, she was suffering from an unknown illness for several months before she disappeared last night"

"This handgun could be useful for self-defence in light of recent developments."

It was Zani, who seemed to have been silent for ages, who spoke first.

"Shall we go in search of the girl tonight, Professor?"

"Well, Zani, no. You have all just come here from so far away.

I do not want us to get involved in the case of her disappearance.

After all, that's for the police to deal with."

Proffesor continued: "However, some of my findings at the castle seem to me to be extremely puzzling and have given me a bit of a fright..."

The last part of the sentence, as Farhan noted, was spoken very quietly by the proffesor, as if he was very unsure of himself.

"Did you manage to get the collection of manuscripts I asked Amelia for?"

Amelia nodded in reply.

Proffesor Sean turned to them all again.

"Now then, freshen up and have something to eat. I'll meet you in my room in an hour or so, by all means!"

With these words, he strode ahead, up the stairs.

PLEASE VOTE IF YOU ARE LIKING MY WORK AND GIVE FEEDBACK IN COMMENTS:))